our top story: president trump says his support for saudi arabia remains strong, despite acknowledging its crown prince could have known about the murder of the journalist, jamal khashoggi. mr trump said the murder was an unacceptable and horrible crime, but he also said that the us would remain a steadfast partner of saudi arabia and he intended to put american interests first. more than 50 people had been killed ina more than 50 people had been killed in a suicide bombing at a meeting of top clerics in kabul. and this story trending on bbc.com. a dramatic rescue for this baby bear in california. the animal had become trapped in a waste bin. police carefully handled the container and the bear soon made its way out. you're up to date. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, samira hussain talks to stacey cunningham, the president of the new york stock exchange — the first woman to occupy that post — as part of our 100 women season.

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stacey cunningham crashed to wall street's glass ceiling this year to become the first woman to head up the new york stock exchange in its 226th history. —— year. she began her career writing on the trading floor at that time, she was just one ofa floor at that time, she was just one of a few dozen women. cunningham ta kes of a few dozen women. cunningham takes over the exchange at a pivotal moment. computers now be much of the working trading around the world, but some things are not that different. there are still very few female traders on the floor. i spoke with her about driving in a male dominated industry, and taking over the helm of a powerful international institution in this me to europe. ——

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metoo era. what i think so much attention is being paid to you being the first female president of the new york stock exchange? the first female president of the new york stock exchange ?|j the first female president of the new york stock exchange? i think there is demand globally for people to recognise the fact that they can do whatever itjob they want to do, so do whatever itjob they want to do, so when they see something that is not quite as typical, they are excited about it and that is exciting for me because it means that what i'm doing is actually helping other people, so it is pretty watering. do you think is warranted? i do not think it is warranted? i do not think it is warranted that a woman, i do not think there should be any surprise that a woman is in the seniorjob, but i think that it is warranted to share the message to others that you can do whatever you want, if you set your mind focusing on solving the problem orforwarding business, that you should continue to work on doing that and you will be successful. -- warranted. what was likely to receive that much attention because

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you are a woman in such a prominent role? it surprised me to receive so much attention, did not expect it to be so much of the story, but i very quickly realise why it was, and it became very clear and evident to me that other people needed to know that other people needed to know that day, the sky was the limit for them, and so seeing somebody continue to progress through their career is i think an important. they understand the importance of that visibility, and so, why did not expect it out front, it makes perfect sense to me when think about it was not something that i needed to see in my career, i did not need to see in my career, i did not need to know that it was muriel who was ahead of me when i started on the trade fall, but if i can help other people, they need to make sure i'm doing that. do you see yourself as a role model for others?” doing that. do you see yourself as a role modelfor others? i think it is important for men, women, boys, girls, to know that they can go out and change the world in whatever way to make sense of them. they should choose a career path that makes

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sense for them, they should follow evenif sense for them, they should follow even if you are following your dreams, then you're going to be successful and you're going to enjoy what you are doing. and if somebody sees me as someone what you are doing. and if somebody sees me as someone who is following my dreams and enjoying what i do each day, and that makes role model, then that is great. but if you look at the finance world, it does have a very strong reputation of having that bro kind of culture. what was it like for you in this environment? i had it like for you in this environment? ihada it like for you in this environment? i had a great time on the trading floor, steve and i was outnumbered asa floor, steve and i was outnumbered as a woman and they were far more men on the trading floor, there were some benefits to that and i had a much higher profile as a woman on the trading floor because there were so few of us and i also found that many of the men on the trading floor took a more protective stance, they wa nted took a more protective stance, they wanted to help you succeed. and so there were some who were excited they wanted to be in the world, it not normal full woman to want to be in the world at the time, as i have

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been very fortunate to up my career, whether it was the trading floor later, to have a lot of sponsors, very often than, usually men, that help progress my career. and i think thatis help progress my career. and i think that is an important aspect of current career growth, is find the people that you can help support them and then in turn, they help you succeed also. when you started on the floor, there will also female journalist to also started on the floor at the same time, paving the way for someone like me to report from the floor. but they have talked about some of the difficulties that they faced with some of the traders when they saw them enter that fall. you did not have that same experience? -- floor. i probably chin down a lot of what i thought was noise, so would not say that the trading floor or any other work environment is perfect, but i tend to focus on the things that i thought were interesting and helpful, and i probably chin down a lot of what was, i felt unnecessary.

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soi lot of what was, i felt unnecessary. so i can't say that i didn't have, he any of those things they did not spend a lot of time thinking about them. and did not you? no, it did not, and like i said, i was really well connected. i felt part of the community and the trading floor, i learned a lot from working on the trading floor. there are skills that you develop down there, can you getting very directly and very quickly is something that is so critical in some importance, and you can leverage that your career as a senior executive, you're quickly making decisions and quickly delivering messages that are really important and have to happen in a timely fashion, and those are things i learned on the trading floor. so i focused on the positive. do you think you are treated differently because your father was a trader? no. my father helped me get my internship and the trading floor and i was very lucky to have a door open for me, but i knew i had to earn the right to stay in the room, and that

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was my focus. it was making sure that i people knew deserved to be there and i belonged there and it was not difficult for me to do because i was focused on getting the job done. what would you say to young women now that thinking about a career in finance? what advice would you give to them?” a career in finance? what advice would you give to them? i think that finance provides a lot of opportunities. there are so many different style careers. women should go out, women or anybody, any individual should go out and find a way to identify the aspects of the business for the most interesting to them, andi business for the most interesting to them, and i would say when you do, you do not have the fit into those that, the style of what exists today. so when you start in a new career or a new industry, especially if you are a minority in that area, don't try and be like everybody else. the fact that you are different is valuable and they will recognise that, that adversity is really important to their business. if you're just trying to be the way everybody else is, you actually limiting the value you can provide. certainly things have changed but there is still a discrepancy between

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there is still a discrepancy between the number of women and the number of men that are in finance, particularly in senior roles. do you see that changing? when i look around at the nyc management team or more broadly at the intercontinental exchange management team, there are a lot of senior women and a senior roles, senior executives. so do not see it quite as, i do think there is a trend that more senior women in leader roles and i think that we are moving in the right direction, we are not moving quite as quickly as the global, global landscape, in the global landscape, but i think we are heading in the right direction. still, the number of public company ceos that women is very, you know, it is dreadfully low and it is frankly fallen, which is the wrong direction to see. so think we need society to change a little bit and help support what the expectations are of senior executives, what a senior executive looks like. —— falling. why are there fewer women

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ceos? there's never really been a ceos? there's never really been a ceo of an investment bank either thatis ceo of an investment bank either that is a woman. we welcome people to the stock exchange every day and of gun if i look back, most of them are men. as we are standing on the bell podium, while there had been very few women, there are more women in senior executive roles of very few women, there are more women in senior executive roles of those companies. so we see that women are rising to the ranks and i think that isa sign rising to the ranks and i think that is a sign of good things to come. do you think the finance industry is overdue its own metoo moment? when i look back at some of the transistor and finance couple of decades ago, there was, i think, a and finance couple of decades ago, there was, ithink, a bit and finance couple of decades ago, there was, i think, a bit of a cleansing there and certainly there was a message that people need to be treated with respect and the office, and there were stories of women where they had not been treated appropriately. and so i think finance may have been ahead of the game to some extent in this movement, but the message we need to ta ke movement, but the message we need to take away and that we should all be

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taking from any of the events that have unfolded over the past 12 months or so is that every individual deserves to be treated with respect, and if you are coming into each day, that is a base level right that you have, and as leaders of organisations, we need to make sure that that is what is going on. view personally, do you think you would be in this prominent role, president of the new york stock exchange, if you would have decided to perhaps have children earlier in life? what i can tell you is that a man probably would not get that question, and that is important because society needs to change their expectations around what women should be doing and what men should be doing, and if we are focused on how people are operating as executives and let them manage their personal lives in their own way, i think you will see women progress more through society, progress more to business and achieve higher goals. society often has a different expectation for women than they do for men and that is something that

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isa for men and that is something that is a challenge that women do have the fight. do you think that is a woman and woman expectation as well? i do. woman and woman expectation as well? ido.i woman and woman expectation as well? i do. i absolutely think that many women put pressure on women to make decisions that they think are right for them, and the lesson that i would hope to see everybody learn is that as an individual, in need to make the decisions that are right for you and it does not mean that anybody else's decisions were wrong. that that is hard. it is hard, but that, we are lucky to be in a position where we have the right to do what we want with our own lives and to choose what is the part that we wa nt and to choose what is the part that we want to take. sometimes it is not even a conscious choice, we just need to make sure that we are not putting an unnecessary burden on one pa rt putting an unnecessary burden on one part of the community, and looking at how gender or race or background should prevent somebody it from making life choices. —— path. we

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control our own destiny and there are very control our own destiny and there are very few things in life you get to control but iraq is, how you operate and your reputation, you have that, at and making your own choices, i think is something that eve ryo ne choices, i think is something that everyone should be rewarded for. do you think you could have been more aggressive earlier in your career than? i think that could have been more aggressive early in my career, i think more aggressive early in my career, ithinki more aggressive early in my career, i think i could have accepted opportunities earlier in my career andi opportunities earlier in my career and i was fortunate that i had people sponsoring me and pushing me into new opportunities that they may not have otherwise raise my handful. it did not mean that i was not qualified for them, itjust meant that i did not think i was necessarily the obvious choice. —— hand for. and once got into a role in suntec city, it becomes very natural and i realise yeah, you might need to learn a few things thatis might need to learn a few things that is not mean you cannot learn them and then execute them. —— a role and was executing things. nasdaq has said they are going to

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interview a woman for each senior vice presidential role at the nasdaq. will the new york stock exchange also make that pledge? when i look at how i construct my team, it is really critical to have a diversity of opinions in our room. i'm already looking at our table, we have a lot of women dividing that perspective, so think it is critical to make sure that you interviewing candidates to stand back ground and adversity. i don't think it is just about women, i think it is really important to have a really diverse group of people sitting around the table providing the unique perspectives in different ways, even among people with it certain categories the same way, so two women, often have very different backgrounds and that holds true in so anyways, so when i am focused on making sure we have team that is as strong as they can possibly be, that means diverse. this room is named after obviously the first female

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member of the new york stock exchange. it took 175 years to have our first female member, so that room is named after her but it is dedicated to women in finance. what is likely to walk through these halls now? i started my career as a sum in turn in this room, in the room in which we are about to walk into. i remember having a gathering to explain what was happening on the trading floor and was a little bit ofa trading floor and was a little bit of a teaching session the summer interns, but to see how the building and our business has evolved over the past 25 years is really fascinating. and you look at the space, we actually just fascinating. and you look at the space, we actuallyjust underwent a major restoration and renovation of the space because it is part of what we give back to our listed companies, so they can come in here and they can use this space, this morning the room was used for an ipo. as we build the community and bring them together and network, it is really powerful and that is different from what was for me when

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i first started out here, and so is fun to see that abolition. what is your favourite spot in this building? well, clearly the trading floor. i mean, that, there is no place like it anywhere in the world and you come in, you can feel the energy and it never gets old. we see ceos come back to celebrate milestones and the enthusiasm being on the floor is like it was on the first time tell me about this room. this is dedicated for our listed companies to hold events and on this wall, we highlight a cross—section of leaders and they are from a number of different public companies and we rotate them and highlight some of their successors. you see a number of ceos and they are in their own right leaders and visionaries and we like to highlight them and we rotate because we have 21100 public companies here and there are certainly a lot of leaders are mum that group. a lot of what happens here and people don't remember this, you have certainly brought this out, there is a lot of tradition here. when you are 226 years old, you have

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a lot of traditions. we are very focused and proud of our history. we are very focused and proud of our history. we are very proud of our past and the history and significance that this institution represents, but we are focused on our future. institution represents, but we are focused on ourfuture. we marry those two. having brought together some traditions for the past two centuries but how do we help companies be empowered and enabled to succeed in the future? the document behind me, founding of the new york stock exchange. 24 brokers finalise their training and sign an agreement under a button would tree. you might ask what it is, it was an american sycamore tree, and the wood was used to use —— make buttons. this kind of history, was the stopping you are interested in even when you started as a trader? absolutely not. when i was in the trading floor i had no visibility, i didn't have a history in this building, i could feel the energy but i didn't realise how far back it dated and that is something i have

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gotten dated and that is something i have gotte n to dated and that is something i have gotten to learn throughout the year is an even more so when i worked for the exchange itself. how old is the building? we have been in this building? we have been in this building since 1903. it was architect did by george b post and created specifically for the stock exchange and is full of historical elements and can see the beautiful stained—glass ceiling, it is a very lucky to work in a building like this. it is great to be in a building that has so much history and now you are presiding over that history, you are someone who is shepherding that history.” history, you are someone who is shepherding that history. i hope to make sure that i can give this building and this business credit is due. is still excite to do this walk to go out onto the floor? every day, never gets old. when you walk onto the trading floor you can fill the energy that exist down here and that has not changed. lot of how we execute trading changed and you can

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see as you walk around, you feel less shouting and you hear more beating as traders are entering their orders electronically. they go up their orders electronically. they go up and have that human interaction and that dialogue around what is occurring and what the interest is in stock, but then they will send their orders in an automated fashion. how many more people were on the floor when you were here? there were thousands of people of the trading floor and like any industry, technology has allowed them to scale and get much more accomplished with fewer people study. there is lot of history in this building, including the walls over here. yes, what you are seeing here on the wall is each time the celebrity opening and closing bell ceremonial all of the members that, to the bell podium to ring that bellingcat to tag our war on the way out. what they represent is entrepreneurs, dreamers, companies leaving their mark on the world, and we like to see their mark on our walls are. this is really

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incredible. what happens to this wa nt incredible. what happens to this want it gets full? as they filled, they continue to run up the sta i rwells they continue to run up the stairwells throughout a building and you will see as people come back and they recall when they signed the wall last time and there are a lot of interesting names. there are prime ministers and 0lympians and ceos of all different types of countries and industries. it really reflects the ecosystem that we have here. muriel seabird was the first woman of the stock exchange and it took a long time for her to get that role. 175 years for new york city to finally have a female member. she fought hard to get it. that was lost on the early in my career. i wasn't inspired by her story until most recently. when i look at how i have progressed through my career and i look at how my career has unfolded, of it is owed to her. —— a lot of it. when i look at herjob now and looking at how i can pack women who

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follow me, i —— i am inspired by the path she took. i recognise that steps and decisions i make can help women later in life, or anyone, and thatis women later in life, or anyone, and that is inspiring. i want to change gear solid of it and talk about the actual business of the new york stock exchange. so much of what is done on the floor has been automated and when you look at the floor now content and when you look at the floor now co nte nt to and when you look at the floor now content to ten years ago, there is certainly a lot less people there. is the floor still necessary? yes, the automation and the technology that we be able to introduce to the trading floor makes the floor even more powerful and effective than it ever was before stop it out traders on the floor, both the designated market—makers that are assigned to each company listed on the new york stock exchange and the floor broker community are able to provide their customers with access to information on how stocks are trading and they apply their skills where needed and

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technology allows them to do that effectively and efficiently. the result is that the stocks listed on the new york stock exchange trade with less volatility, they move around less and that is a good thing or investors. it is a real net positive for customers listed with the new york stock exchange, as well as their shareholders. what you say to critics who say that the floor has just become a marketing tool, nothing but a glorified television studio. what i would explain is the body suggest that is i would say that the floor provides value to every com pa ny that the floor provides value to every company that is listed on the new york stock exchange in the form of reducing trading disruptions throughout their stock and giving a better result to investors and it is also a powerful marketing tools. when you look at the fact that there are 35 different media outlets on the trading floor, that is a really powerful message. the companies listed on the new york stock exchange, when they have a message that they want out to be delivered, they can amplify that with our platform that is part of the value

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we can provide to them. the floor is definitely a marketing tool, it is just not only a marketing. it how much do companies actually can indicate with the floor? tremendously. you will see if you look at any of the ipo's that are covered in great detail on tv comic is in covered in great detail on tv comic isina covered in great detail on tv comic is in a communication between brokers and their customers and the market—makers and the bank, as they are trying to find that right price. a great example of that earlier this year was when spotted by chose to become a public company. if you watch the footage on the trading floor that day, those were all members of the nyc training for community to begin to that price discovery process, finding stable and a smooth way to open a companies trading on public markets for the first time. we excel at that and the trading floor is a big part of that story. we still get so excited. i love the floor. is hard to hold that a cts love the floor. is hard to hold that acts of is exciting for me when i started that trading on the public floor, what it represents notjust

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me personally but to new york, the united states and the world. we are global institution. to be able to be pa rt global institution. to be able to be part of a team that gets to reinvent us part of a team that gets to reinvent us yet again as to how we want to be well—positioned for our cost as for the future, is really exciting. it comes through when i talk about. where he said the stock exchange going? our core mission remains the same, we are here and have been through the past few centuries to help companies raise capital to make the world that place and help investors to take part in that. that will be the same. how we do that evolves a nd will be the same. how we do that evolves and can use to evolve. the start off orjudicial evolves and can use to evolve. the start off or judicial companies, evolves and can use to evolve. the start off orjudicial companies, we are seeing that to give it to products like exchange traded products like exchange traded products or 80 f's, those are things, they provide access investors, to asset classes and we never we have —— would have been a dream is before. we are democratising. when we will at trends in cryptic currency or whether market may be headed, those that are the things that we focus

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on, how can we continue to deliver to our customers ways for them to raise money for investors to take pa rt raise money for investors to take part in that. what keeps you up at night? it's it another cyber attack? it's it another flash crash? there are always concerned about market concerns driven by a cyber attack or a global crisis or a flash crash. those are things that are, there is a lwa ys those are things that are, there is always a risk of those things occurring. what my focus is is making sure that we are ready for anything that comes our way. there is no memo coming out that says tomorrow this is what will happen in markets, and markets need to be ready at all times. 0urjob is to make sure that our team in a technology systems can handle trading in the market, under any market conditions, at a moment ‘s notice. that is my energy. stacey cunningham, thank you so much for your time. thank you. hello, good morning.

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as expected, tuesday was a really cold day, and it's been cold enoughjust recently to bring some sleet and snow to lower levels, even into the south—east of england. but on wednesday, the coldest air and the strongest winds will push northwards across scotland and northern ireland. so we should see some improvements further south. but we've got a cloudy start on wednesday morning. the wetter weather for northern ireland moving away from northern england, up into scotland. again, some sleet and some snow, particularly over the hills. but then we should see things brightening up, a few showers coming in as well. more detail in the afternoon. you can see the showers in the west country perhaps affecting east wales and the west midlands. for eastern england this time, some welcome sunshine, much drier weather as well. and that sunshine may develop through the afternoon later on into southern parts of scotland.

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northern ireland still stays quite wet, frequent showers around here, quite wet for central and northern parts of scotland, some more sleet and snow, mainly over the hills. quite windy across scotland, gusts of 40mph around some of those eastern coasts, so if anything, it's going to feel colder than it did on tuesday for scotland and northern ireland, especially with the strong winds and rain, but it shouldn't feel quite as cold as it did on tuesday for england and wales, especially if you've got some sunshine and the winds are not as strong as well. but the wet weather will tend to clear away for most areas during wednesday evening, and that means clearer skies, that means tumbling temperatures, before we see cloud coming in off the north sea, bringing with it some drizzle, arresting the temperature fall, but further west with clearer skies, frost likely and maybe some icy patches. some early sunshine perhaps across northern ireland, into wales and western scotland. maybe some sunshine developing at times across southern counties of england, but elsewhere, cloudy, a little bit damp with some wetter weather pushing back into eastern scotland, seven degrees if you're lucky here. eight or nine, i think, will be fairly typical elsewhere.

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another chilli sort of day. the threat of rain coming into the far south—west with this area of low pressure. higher pressure to the north of the uk, hence this east to south—easterly breeze, not particularly strong on friday. a nothing sort of day on friday. not much sunshine, a fair bit of crowd, most places will be dry, showers more likely in the south—west, and wetter weather again coming into eastern parts of scotland. those temperatures getting up to eight, nine, possibly even the heady heights of 10 degrees, so the temperatures are going the right way. the air is getting a bit less cold as it comes in from the south, but still not particularly warm if you're stuck under the crowd and some pockets of rain. i'm rico hizon in singapore. american interests first. president trump says he'll stand by saudi arabia despite the killing of the journalist, jamal khashoggi. we also need a counterbalance, and israel needs help also.

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if we abandon saudi arabia, it would be a terrible mistake. at a meeting of muslim clerics in afghanistan, a suicide bombing kills at least 50 people. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: smiles and deals. leaders of china and the philippines pledge a new era of cooperation. and after a dead whale washes up on an indonesian beach, scientists discover 6kg of plastic waste in its stomach.